DESIMONEWAYLAND

With backgrounds in studio art and art history Marcello De Simone and Bruce Wayland founded their studio Little Owl Design in 2010.

The thread of historical references can be best seen in the duo’s on-going ceramic artworks Altered Perspectives/Altered Histories, as well as in projects for clients such as Anthropologie, MaxMara and The Walt Disney Company.

Their design philosophy is to find inspiration in historical references and reinterpret them by removing the original design several degrees and thereby create something new.

Starting in 2014 Little Owl Design began a collaboration with the Italian fashion brand MaxMara, creating wall art for a new boutique in Tokyo, window displays for Weekend MaxMara worldwide in S/S 2015, and created a custom design in ceramics for various Weekend MaxMara boutiques worldwide.

In 2017 the duo were invited to take part to the Design Residency at Vista Alegre/Atlantis in Portugal, designing works in porcelain and crystal.

Also in 2017 a 3 meter long art installation was commissioned by The Walt Disney Company for the VIP Lounge of the Grand Californian Hotel in Anaheim, California.

Starting in June 2018 the Tortue Hotel in Hamburg features several of their wallpaper designs throughout the hotel.

The bespoke English cabinet maker Plain English has commissioned an installation pieces in porcelain which can be seen in their new Manhattan showroom since Spring 2018.

The design aspect of their work has now been brought under the name Studio DeSimoneWayland, while the art pieces and limited edition ceramics under the name Atelier DeSimoneWayland.